The present invention relates to the field of home baking appliances comprising a heated chamber, and more particularly to an accessory for baking bread or a similar preparation in such an appliance.
Bread is generally baked in an oven whose chamber can be heated in various ways—by electricity, gas, heating oil, coal, solar energy, etc. The bread dough is generally placed on the hearth of the oven and more or less spreads out onto the hearth during baking.
However, in order to produce baguette-type bread loaves, an elongated mold of semi-circular cross-section can be used to form a so-called molded baguette.
While such an operation has generally been mastered by professionals, it can be different when this type of baking is done in a home setting, where the fairly exacting nature of the various measurements—particularly of the yeast, but also of the quantity of dough placed in the molds—can lead to spillovers of dough during the baking phase. Simple molds of semi-circular cross-section do not prevent dough spillovers.
This drawback is even more substantial when using a bread making machine. In essence, this appliance, which is capable of mixing the various ingredients, then physically transforming them by heat treatment, specifically comprises a baking chamber inside of which is disposed a preparation container and at least one heating element, often positioned inside the lower part of the chamber.
Consequently, a spillover of dough from its baking support can result in contact between the dough and the heating element, which can produce a substantial emission of smoke, or even flames, by burning the dough.
In essence, in such appliances, a number of programs corresponding to different types of bread are available, making it possible to produce a wide variety of breads with a baking process that is defined according to taste and the addition of ingredients such as grains, cheese, diced bacon, raisins, nuts, etc. As many special breads as desired can thus be made with such a machine.
Bread making machines also have multiple functionalities such as the ability to program the preparation of the bread and delay the baking thereof, keep it hot after baking, etc.
The preparation container, which is generally parallelepipedic, contains one or more mixing blades that perform the various mechanical operations for mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough. The container is generally removable to facilitate cleaning, as are the mixing blades of the container.
However, most of the appliances offered use the preparation container for baking the bread, which results in the production of a rather tall, rectangular-shaped bread loaf. While this bread shape is desirable for brioches or sandwich breads, it is not very well adapted to the making of crusty bread, such as baguette-type bread.
There is, however, a machine as described and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,020, wherein the container can be replaced by a support made of flat steel sheets for producing round bread products such as bagels—ring-shaped round bread rolls. Such bread products need to be dipped briefly in boiling water before being placed in the oven. The appliance described in that patent thus comprises a steam-producing device which, prior to baking by radiation and convection, allows a moistening and preliminary steam-cooking.
While this appliance certainly makes it possible to bake the dough prepared in the preparation container in another container, the support described does not allow for the production of baguette-type breads. Moreover, the heating element being disposed in the lower part of the baking area, there is uneven baking of the various loaves depending on their position relative to this heating element.